Aristotle advised Alexander the great to send a colony of Greeks from the philosopher’s home town to Socotra in the 4^th century BC. The goal of the expedition was to take advantage of the abundance of aloe and other plants that grew freely on the island. After all the Indians who occupied the island before the Greeks had named it Dvipa Sukhadra – Sanskrit for the Island of Bliss. When the Greeks landed on Socotra , they unseated Indian colony and started their own reign of the island. The island’s newest inhabitants adapted the old Sanskrit name to Greeks language as Dioscorida.From this Sanskrit appellation as well ,the island’s modern name ,Socotra, was derived.

There are several other theories accounting for the origin of Socotra’s name. On commonly put forward hypothesis is that the name reflected the business of the island- in addition the island was known for exporting the sap of the dragoon’s tree, incense and herbs .According to the Arabian geographer Yaqut Al-Hamawi,  Socotra known locally as Souk means market ,Qatira means Drop ,combined the two words till formed, Socotra

Aristotle advised Alexander the great to send a colony of Greeks from the philosopher’s home town to Socotra in the 4^th century BC. The goal of the expedition was to take advantage of the abundance of aloe and other plants that grew freely on the island. After all the Indians who occupied the island before the Greeks had named it Dvipa Sukhadra – Sanskrit for the Island of Bliss. When the Greeks landed on Socotra , they unseated Indian colony and started their own reign of the island. The island’s newest inhabitants adapted the old Sanskrit name to Greeks language as Dioscorida.From this Sanskrit appellation as well ,the island’s modern name ,Socotra, was derived.

There are several other theories accounting for the origin of Socotra’s name. On commonly put forward hypothesis is that the name reflected the business of the island- in addition the island was known for exporting the sap of the dragoon’s tree, incense and herbs .According to the Arabian geographer Yaqut Al-Hamawi,  Socotra known locally as Souk means market ,Qatira means Drop ,combined the two words till formed, Socotra

By the late 16^th century the Christian elements of Socotra has rapidly deteriorated. There were no longer any priests on the island, and the islanders who did practice religion combined old rituals that they could no longer understand with aspects of astral worship. As the Mahri sultans regained control of Socotra, the islanders converted to Islam. Hardly any evidence of Christianity ,s presence on the island remains today.

There are several other theories accounting for the origin of Socotra’s name. On commonly put forward hypothesis is that the name reflected the business of the island- in addition the island was known for exporting the sap of the dragoon’s tree, incense and herbs .According to the Arabian geographer Yaqut Al-Hamawi,  Socotra known locally as Souk means market ,Qatira means Drop ,combined the two words till formed, Socotra

In 1507, Socotra was occupied briefly by the Portuguese. In a bloody attack, the Portuguese were able to overcome a fortress occupied by Mahri forces near the town of Souk. Four years later, the Mahri sultans sent forces to reclaim the island, and by 1511 the Portuguese had withdrawn, but not before constructing a church at fortress they had conquered. The Mahri destroyed both the church and fort. The Portuguese maintained contact with the island off and on over the next century. Vitaly Naumkin notes in his book on Socotra at some of the socotri mountain  tribes had songs about how their ancestor were expelled to Socotra because of their sins. He suggest that the Portuguese may have used Socotra as an island of exile, the idea that native socotri descended from the Portuguese has been widely circulated.

There are several other theories accounting for the origin of Socotra’s name. On commonly put forward hypothesis is that the name reflected the business of the island- in addition the island was known for exporting the sap of the dragoon’s tree, incense and herbs .According to the Arabian geographer Yaqut Al-Hamawi,  Socotra known locally as Souk means market ,Qatira means Drop ,combined the two words till formed, Socotra